Statistics anxiety, trait anxiety, learning behavior, and academic performance

The present study investigated the relationship between statistics anxiety, individual characteristics (e.g., trait anxiety and learning strategies), and academic performance. Students enrolled in a statistics course in psychology (N=147) filled in a questionnaire on statistics anxiety, trait anxiety, interest in statistics, mathematical selfconcept, learning strategies, and procrastination. Additionally, their performance in the examination was recorded. The structural equation model showed that statistics anxiety held a crucial role as the strongest direct predictor of performance. Students with higher statistics anxiety achieved less in the examination and showed higher procrastination scores. Statistics anxiety was related indirectly to spending less effort and time on learning. Trait anxiety was related positively to statistics anxiety and, counterintuitively, to academic performance. This result can be explained by the heterogeneity of the measure of trait anxiety. The part of trait anxiety that is unrelated to the specific part of statistics anxiety correlated positively with performance.

Statistics anxiety, state anxiety during an examination, and academic achievement.

BACKGROUND: A large proportion of students identify statistics courses as the most anxiety-inducing courses in their curriculum. Many students feel impaired by feelings of state anxiety in the examination and therefore probably show lower achievements. AIMS: The study investigates how statistics anxiety, attitudes (e.g., interest, mathematical self-concept) and trait anxiety, as a general disposition to anxiety, influence experiences of anxiety as well as achievement in an examination. SAMPLE: Participants were 284 undergraduate psychology students, 225 females and 59 males. METHODS: Two weeks prior to the examination, participants completed a demographic questionnaire and measures of the STARS, the STAI, self-concept in mathematics, and interest in statistics. At the beginning of the statistics examination, students assessed their present state anxiety by the KUSTA scale. After 25 min, all examination participants gave another assessment of their anxiety at that moment. Students' examination scores were recorded. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to test relationships between the variables in a multivariate context. RESULTS: Statistics anxiety was the only variable related to state anxiety in the examination. Via state anxiety experienced before and during the examination, statistics anxiety had a negative influence on achievement. However, statistics anxiety also had a direct positive influence on achievement. This result may be explained by students' motivational goals in the specific educational setting. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide insight into the relationship between students' attitudes, dispositions, experiences of anxiety in the examination, and academic achievement, and give recommendations to instructors on how to support students prior to and in the examination.

亲子依恋对大学生人际关系影响的性别效应

Parent-child attachment refers to the emotional bond that forms between parent and child, which has great influences on the child’s interpersonal development. Present study applied both correlation method and secure attachment memory activation method to investigate the “gender relation effects” of parent-child attachment’s influences on college students’ close relationships, general attachment representation, and emotion and social loneliness. The basic hypotheses on “gender relation” were set as: “same-sex” parent-child attachment has more influences on college students’ “same-sex” interpersonal relationships, while “opposite-sex” parent-child attachment has more influences on college students’ “opposite-sex” interpersonal relationships. Major findings includes: 1. There was weak correlation of attachment security between father-child and mother-child relationships. The findings indicated that, among college students, the security of “opposite-sex” parent-child attachment representation is higher to some extent than that of “same-sex” parent-child attachment representation. 2. There were significant correlations between parent-child attachment and college students’ attachment anxiety in close relationships. Major findings indicated that “opposite-sex” parent-child attachment security negatively predicts college students’ attachment anxiety in both “same-sex” and “opposite-sex” close relationships. 3. Gender relation effects were significant in the correlations between parent-child attachment and college students’ level of avoidant attachment representation. “Same-sex” parent-child attachment security positively predicted avoidant attachment level in college students’ “same-sex” close relationships, while “opposite-sex” parent-child attachment security positively predicted avoidant attachment level in “opposite-sex” close relationships. 4. Parent-child attachment security memory activation had significant influences on college students’ general attachment representation, in which gender relation effects indicated that: the memory activation of father-child attachment security significantly increases participants’ security of self-model in general attachment representation to “male others”; while the memory activation of mother-child attachment security significantly increase participants’ security of others-model in general attachment representation to “female others”. 5. For male college students, father-son attachment security negatively predicted their emotion and social loneliness. For female college students, father-daughter attachment security negatively predicted their emotion loneliness, while mother-daughter attachment security negatively predicted their social loneliness. Attachment security memory activation had significant influences on college students’ social loneliness, in which gender relation effects was confirmed in that only father-child attachment security memory activation significantly decreased male participants’ level of social loneliness. The results indicated that gender relation effects are significant in the influences of parent-child attachment on college students’ interpersonal relationship representations, especially when the level of avoidant of attachment in college students’ close relationships was predicted by parent-child attachment representation, and when the memory activation of parent-child attachment influenced college students’ general attachment representation. The present study confirmed to some extent that gender relation consistency exists in attachment representations among different interpersonal relations, and serves as a new model for analysis of gender differences in the research fields. In the present study, however, gender relation effects were not confirmed in all the interpersonal relationship representations, which indicated the complexity in the problems of gender differences in the research fields of close relationships.

农村留守儿童心理行为现状及其影响因素研究

To investigate the psychological and behavioral status and their influencing factors of children left behind in rural areas in China, 604 students were chosen from primary fifth grade, junior second grade and senior first grade in high schools in local villages and towns of Chongqing and Guizhou to complete some investegations. The results showed that children left behind actually had some internalizing problems including depression, state-trait anxiety, social anxiety, low self-esteem and some social problems in campus; however, they had no delinquency or aggression behaviors. Low parents’ educational level, low life standards, no-good parent-child relationship, the long years parent spent outside, the long time parent spent outside every year, the young age of child when his parent left him, the low contact frequency between parent and child when parent went out for work, all can be the influencing factors made child behave some psychological or behavioral problems. Children left behind need some appropriate psychological intervention, to improve parent-child relationship, to help release internalizing problems and amend interpersonal relationship at school. Several advices may be useful to improve psychological and behavioral problems of children left behind, which are for parents who work outside home not to work long to 10 years, or stay out for work more than 10 months per year, or left child to work when he is younger than two years old, or contact child more than one month after the last contact when work outside home, and you’d better contact child once a day. All of these could be helpful for children left behind to overcome some psychological or behavioral problems.

中学生强迫症状及其心理、环境危险因素和整合模型研究

Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, which are one of common factors effected on mental health of secondary school students, have been rarely studied at home and abroad. In accordance with the problems existed in these literature up till now, the thesis had mainly studied the measured tool, contents and structure, developmental features, psychosocial risk factors and integrated model of obsessive-compulsive symptoms from them by means of investigation with quetionnaires. The entire research was divided into three phases. 3185 students(age 14.68±1.75 years) were firstly measured with the 20-item Leyton Obsessional Inventory-Child Version(LOI-CV) at four secondary schools including six grades in Beijing city, which was applied to revise LOI-CV, and to study the structure and contents, developmental features and screen of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Then, 216 subjects with obsessive-compulsive symptoms, paired with controls in the light of school, grade and gender, were investigated with 10 self-rating scales on obsessive-compulsive symptoms, anxiety, depression, personality, coping and attributional style, negative life events, parent's rearing style, family environment and life adaptation in school, and with an inventory on social demography. The results were used to explore psychosocial risk factors and integrated model of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The third survey was only carried out, about two months after the second, among 264 subjects with obsessive-compulsive symptoms through MMOCI and Negative Life Event Scale for Adolescents, in order to probe into the integrated model. The research had mainly found: (1) LOI-CV can be used as a screen tool for obsessive-compulsive symptoms in urban adolescents in China; (2) Total screening-out ratio of obsessive-compulsive symptoms was 13.6% (male:15.0%, female:12.2%). The most common manifestations of obsessive-compulsive symptoms were hating dirt and contamination, doing things in exact manner, angry if someone messes desk, bad conscience but no one else, worry about cleanliness, repeated thoughts or words; the least were favorite or special number, spending extra time on homework, special number or words to avoid, talking or moving to avoid bad luck, fussy about hands. The checking and repetition, cleanliness and tidiness, general obsessions were more common forms than numbers-luck; (3) No differences were existed in serious degree of obsessive-compulsive symptoms, but the screening-out ratio in male was higher than it in female; (4) No differences were detected in the serious degree of obsessive-compulsive symptoms except the scores of cleanliness and tidiness among grades, but the screening-out ratio of the grades justly entering secondary school or going to graduate were higher than other ones; (5) The main psychosocial risk factors for obsessive-compulsive symptoms included anxiety, mother's over-protecting and over-interfering, fantasy, flexibility, self-actualization, peers relationship, sense of responsibility, negative life events, mother's occupation, help-seeking, and (6) The integrated model on psychosocial risk factors suggested that the possible developed and sustained mechanism of obsessive-compulsive symptoms was that personality, coping and attributional styles constructed the developmental diathesis foundation of obsessive-compulsive symptoms; negative life events were promoting factors of them. There was a dynamic interaction between personality and environmental factors. Negative emotion played a core role in the developmental process of them. The continued existence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms was related to pre-existed obsessive-compulsive symptoms and negative life events experienced by an individual. Therefore, this research not only let us get a deeper understanding of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and more entirely find out psychosocial risk factors, firstly applied diathesis-stress theory to comprehend the psychological mechanism of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and, moreover, elaborate and expand it, but also has more important practice significance of treatment, prevent and education for obsessive-compulsive symptoms in secondary school students.

Supporting the case for “progressive universalism” in health visiting: Scottish mothers and health visitors’ perspectives on targeting and rationing health visiting services, with a focus on the Lothian Child Concern Model.

Aims. To explore parents and professionals’ experience of family assessment in health visiting (public health nursing), with a focus on the Lothian Child Concern Model (LCCM). Background. Health visitors (HVs) currently assess families as requiring core, additional or intensive support, and offer support at a corresponding level. The majority of families are assessed as core and receive no pro-active support beyond the early days. Previous assessment tools, consisting of checklists, have been criticised as being ineffective in identifying a range of health needs and unacceptable to parents and HVs. The LCCM model was developed and introduced in the study area to promote a partnership approach with parents and assess strengths as well as difficulties in parents’ capacity to care for their child. Methods. Qualitative methods were used. Ten mothers and twelve HVs took part in individual semi-structured interviews. Results. Most mothers were aware of the assessment process but some felt that they were not involved in the decision making process. Explaining the assessment process to parents is problematic and not all HVs do so. The assessment process was stressful for some mothers. HVs find the model useful for structuring and documenting the assessment process. Many believe that most families benefit from some support, using public health approaches. Families are often assessed as core because there are insufficient resources to support all those who meet the criteria of the additional category, and managers assess caseloads in terms of families with child protection concerns. Conclusions. The study findings support the concept of “progressive universalism” which provides a continuum of intensity of support to families, depending on need. Mothers would like better partnership working with HVs. Relevance to clinical practice. The study endorses proposed policy changes to re-establish the public health role of HVs and to lower the threshold for families to qualify for support.

The Anxiety of the Image

Kear, A. (2005). The Anxiety of the Image. Parallax, 11 (3), 107-116. RAE2008

Handedness and social anxiety: using Bryden's research as a catalyst to explore the influence of familial sinistrality and degree of handedness

Phil Bryden's work has impacted on many areas of laterality, including degree and measurement of hand preference, as well as influences of familial sinistrality (FS). For example, Bryden[(1977). Measuring handedness with questionnaires. Neuropsychologia, 15, 617–624] is a well-cited and influential paper that remains relevant to this day. Inspired by this we extended our analysis of the relationship between handedness and anxiety in a number of ways. We used familial handedness and strength of handedness to examine their potential influences on anxiety, and extended our research by exploring their relationship to social anxiety, using the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN). Inconsistent left-handers (ILH) were found to be more socially anxious. In all categories of SPIN except avoidance, ILH were significantly more anxious than consistent right- and left-handers. There were FS differences between ILH with a first degree left-handed relative (FS+) compared to ILH with no first degree left-handed relative (FS−) on all categories of anxiety scores. Within FS+ participants, ILH had significantly higher anxiety scores, compared with consistent handers across all categories. This suggests that ILH's social anxiety may be influenced by a close left-handed relative. Inspired by examining Bryden's work for this special issue, we will continue to add both strength of preference and familial handedness to our work.

Gender-dependent language anxiety in Polish communication apprehensives

This paper analyzes the relationship between communication apprehension and language anxiety from the perspective of gender. As virtually no empirical studies have addressed the explicit influence of gender on language anxiety in communication apprehensives, this paper proposes that females are generally more sensitive to anxiety, as reflected in various spheres of communication. For this reason, language anxiety levels in communication apprehensive females should be higher, unlike those of communication apprehensive males. Comparisons between them were made using a student t test, two-way ANOVA, and post-hoc Tukey test. The results revealed that Polish communication apprehensive secondary grammar school males and females do not differ in their levels of language anxiety, although nonapprehensive males experience significantly lower language anxiety than their female peers. It is argued that the finding can be attributed to developmental patterns, gender socialization processes, classroom practices, and the uniqueness of the FL learning process, which is a stereotypically female domain.

I am a Child. Hypothesis on Spectator Pedagogy

The paper consists of series of suggestions and historical references on the basis of which it would become possible to think and practice „spectator pedagogy” in performing arts. Contemporary performance practices can claim for new kind of political relevance by focusing on the way spectator´s corporeal experience changes during and through theatrical situation. Naive body produced by a performance is also most susceptible for thoroughgoing political and ecological change. This is the first outline by its author on this topic.

The child in the midst : a comparative study of child welfare in Christian and non-Christian lands / by Mary Schauffler Labaree.

http://www.archive.org/details/childinthemidst028451mbp

Job retention and turnover: a study of child protection and welfare social workers in Ireland

Retaining social workers in child protection and welfare organisations has been identified as a problem in Ireland (McGrath, 2001; Ombudsman for Children, 2006; Houses of the Oireachtas, 2008) and internationally (Ellet et al., 2006; Mor Barak et al., 2006; Tham, 2006). While low levels of retention have been identified, there is no research that examines the factors in Ireland that influence the retention of social workers. In this thesis, data is analysed from qualitative interviews with 45 social workers in the Health Service Executive South about what influences their decisions to stay in or leave child protection and welfare social work. These social workers’ views are examined in relation to quantitative research on the levels of turnover and employment mobility of child protection and welfare social workers employed in the same organisation. Contrary to expectations, the study found that the retention rate of social workers during the period of data collection (March 2005 to December 2006) was high and that the majority of social workers remained positive about this work and their retention. The quality of social workers’ supervision, social supports from colleagues, high levels of autonomy, a commitment to child protection and welfare work, good variety in the work, and a perception that they were making a difference, emerged as important factors in social workers’ decisions to stay. Perceptions of being unsupported by the organisation, which was usually described in terms of high caseloads and demanding workloads, a lack of resources, work with involuntary clients and not being able to make a difference, were the most significant factors in social workers’ decisions to leave and/or to want to leave. Social workers felt particularly professionally unsupported when they received low quality and/or infrequent professional supervision. This thesis critiques the theories of perceived organisational support theory, social exchange theory and job characteristics theory, and uses the concept of ‘professional career’, to help analyse the retention of social workers in child protection and welfare.